the avenger
by worldoffire
Summary: Sasuke, from seven to seventeen.


I'm starting to like Sasuke quite a bit. Maybe it's something to do with writing this. Somehow, this went from a short piece on his vow for revenge to a study of sorts on Sasuke's thoughts, memories, and feelings about Itachi. I do rather like it, I must say. Enjoy. c:

NOTE: You should be up to date on the events of the manga before reading this! Spoilers up to Chapter 627.

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own it.

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Uchiha Sasuke's first, and last, idol is his big brother, Itachi. He is seven, watching him throw kunai at targets and not miss a single one. His cousin and Itachi's best friend, Shisui, lounges against a tree nearby, waiting for him to be done with training; they have a mission they need to report for.

In a way, though, he also hates Itachi. It is the curse of being the second born, always second best. His father always praises Itachi, asking him why he can't be more like his brother. By this age, he'd graduated and was a genin. Sasuke, however, has been in the Academy three years and shows no signs of graduating early. Possibly, he should be bitter towards him; he's not. Itachi is his older brother and he adores him, idolizes him, and nothing he can think of could change that.

Finally, Itachi is done. Shisui straightens up, grabbing his bag and Itachi's, and walks over to hand it to him. Sasuke runs up to his brother.

"Big Brother! Will you train with me when you get back?" He's hopeful Itachi will say yes; training with him is always fun.

"Of course, Sasuke. We should be back tomorrow; then I'll train with you." He leans down slightly and pokes him in the forehead, smiling. Then he turns to leave with Shisui; they need to get ready.

Sasuke can't keep the silly grin from spreading over his face.

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He can't seem to believe what happened last night.

In hours, his family, his _world_ was ripped away by the blade of a katana and the swirl of a blood-red and black Sharingan. Itachi killed their clan last night, and fled; he is officially considered a missing-nin. Sasuke is the only one left, spared because, in Itachi's words, he was too weak to kill.

He slaughtered their clan to test his power, and Sasuke can barely wrap his head around it. He hates him now, absolutely, and he knows only one thing for sure.

He will have revenge.

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Sasuke is twelve; five years have passed since his family was ripped away and he became, in his own words, a cold-hearted avenger. His only want, only goal, is to kill Itachi, now referred to only as "a certain man", and he says as much when Kakashi asks.

Finally, they're released from this meeting with orders to meet at the bridge tomorrow, and he's relieved—he hasn't gotten in his training today, and he needs to if he wants to kill him.

Instead of training, though, he heads somewhere different: his parents' grave. It's in the cemetery, five up and two over from the right, shining under the sun just as it had the day of the small funeral held for all the Uchiha. None of their real bodies are here, though—there were too many, and instead they were burned on a pyre, lit solemnly by Sasuke himself with the Fireball Jutsu he'd learned weeks before the massacre.

Ironic, really, that he'd learned it so soon before. It's as if the universe knew that fire was in his future. He'd insisted on lighting it himself; he hadn't wanted anyone else there, either. He'd said it was because he wanted to be alone while he mourned; it was actually so he could collapse before the pile and cry before finally lighting it.

It is a nice memorial stone, though. His parents' names are engraved into it, along with the date of their death, September 5th. He traces it with a finger, over and over.

"Mother. Father." A single tear appears, in the corner of his eye; he wipes it away. "I will have revenge—for you."

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He's bruised and beaten, though most of it is invisible to the eyes—his only physical injury is to his wrist, which is snapped, but it's healing quickly. His major damage is on the inside, etched into his mind forevermore. He met his brother again, for the first time since that horror-filled night. He tried to avenge his family, kill his brother and finally have his revenge; only to be pinned against a wall, have his wrist broken and mind flayed by Itachi's genjutsu. It was torture; watching them die, again and again and again. He wonders why once wasn't enough. It was for him—enough to last a lifetime—but now he's seen it three times, far too many.

He's broken now, though a part of him wonders if he wasn't really broken that night he came home late to find the clan slaughtered in the streets and homes, if this is just shattering the few pieces that remain.

He vows today that he will avenge his clan no matter what; no matter the cost.

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They wait for him, four shadows in the night.

There's the large orange-haired one, Jirobo; the six-armed spider boy, Kidomaru; the twins with the odd shared Kekkei Genkai, Sakon and Ukon; and the only girl in the group, Tayuya, a genjutsu specialist.

The twins step forward; they seem to be the leaders. "Lord Sasuke." Respect drips off the dual voices as they bow, the three behind doing the same. "We are the Sound Four; we're here to escort you to Lord Orochimaru."

Sasuke nods at them, unspeaking. He notices they have seals similar to his—perhaps they can teach him to use it, later. First, they need to get away from Konoha, and fast; he suspects people will discover he's gone soon, send out a search party. The farther away they are, the better.

"Wait," Tayuya says, stepping forward to stand next to the twins. Her voice is surprisingly musical. "Before we leave, we need to advance your cursed seal." She pulls out a scroll, unrolls it, and applies chakra; out of it springs a red container. "We need you to get in that."

He hesitates for a moment, then complies—after all, he'd vowed to beat Itachi no matter what.

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He's been here three years now—his room is still as bare as it was the day he got here. He has no bonds now; he severed them three years ago in heavy rain, under the statues of Konoha's founders. All he is now is an avenger, dedicated solely to killing his brother.

It's nice enough here, he supposes; nobody bothers him outside of when Kabuto comes to fetch him for training, so he's left to himself and his thoughts, mostly. There's not much he really thinks about; at the moment, it's that the time for Orochimaru to take over his body is growing nearer and nearer with each passing day.

He's ruminating on this when he hears a crash from the other side of the base. Curious, he takes his sword and goes to see what it is.

It turns out to be the boy from before—Sai, he thinks—that replaced him in Team Seven. Only now, he's apparently decided to help Naruto save the bond connecting them. Sasuke knows this is idiotic, pathetic; that's why he destroys the room. If he's here, it's likely that Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi are, too—this is the perfect chance, to permanently sever their "bond".

They are here, and they come running at the sound of destruction. Kakashi's not there; instead there is a brown-haired man they address as Yamato. He wonders, briefly, where the masked jonin is—dead, perhaps?—before turning his attention to the loud blonde boy. He will sever their bond.

In the end, he doesn't; next time, though, he will not get off so easy. He has decided one thing, though: Orochimaru will not take over his body. He will gain his revenge and permanently sever the bonds with Team Seven on his own.

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He leans back against the destroyed wall of the Uchiha Hideout; all that remains standing is this wall, with the Uchiha symbol, a red and white fan, painted on it, and, of course, Sasuke. He's just had the biggest fight of his life—him versus Itachi, ruining the hideout and the area around it. Black flames from one of Itachi's earlier attacks still smolder, unable to go out. Rain is pounding down, all around him.

_The heavens weep for his death,_ he thinks. It's fitting, somehow. After everything, he's not surprised that tears fall from the sky. He himself, the hardened avenger, feels like crying. He's been taken back to his childhood, when Itachi would smile at him and poke his forehead, fingers outstretched. That was the last thing he did before dying.

_I miss those days._ That is the last thing he thinks before he slumps down, next to Itachi's corpse, and falls into unconsciousness.

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When he comes to he is in a dark cave, resting on a cot of some sort. He expects Suigetsu or Karin or Jugo to be around; they are nowhere to be found. Instead there is a man in the corner, face covered by an orange mask patterned with a swirl. There's a single eyehole, on the right side, but he can't see anything through it.

"Ah, you're finally awake." The man rises, and comes to sit nearer.

His voice is raspy when he speaks. "Who... Who are you?"

"I? I am Uchiha Madara." He pulls off the mask partway, then, exposing the right half of his face. Sasuke gasps involuntarily; a Sharingan whirls in the eye socket. Them there's a burning pain in his own right eye, and he snaps it shut along with the other one. When the pain subsides he opens them to find the man has disappeared; not for long, though, as he reappears quickly, mask back in place and chuckling.

"Your brother never ceases to amaze me."

"How so?" His voice is back to normal and holds evident distrust; he doesn't believe this is Madara. He's dead, has been for years and years, no matter what Itachi said before.

"A one-use Amaterasu implanted in your eye, made to react to mine; it's brilliant. He must have done it just after we massacred the clan."

"Why would he do that? And it was only Itachi who killed the clan, he told me so."

"He lied. There is much about your brother you do not know." Sasuke considers this a moment; he'd never even thought that Itachi might have kept secrets.

"Tell me."

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Now, he is determined to have revenge in Itachi's name, against Danzo. He had been the one to order the Uchiha Massacre, along with the other elders; it was Danzo's idea, though, so Sasuke has decided to focus on him. Madara, or Tobi, as he seemed to go by, had explained it all.

His Mangekyo had awakened upon hearing this, bringing with it new power. Tobi had warned him not to overdo it, though, or his sight would slowly deteriorate as Itachi's had.

He'd found Suigetsu and Karin and Jugo; it is them he turns to face now, standing atop a cliff, Akatsuki cloak open and flaring out behind him.

"From this day on, we are Taka; the hawk that flies high, untouchable." He turns again, looking over the cliff face. If he looks far enough and hard enough, he thinks he can almost see Konoha. "Our new goal... is to destroy Konoha."

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He stands, panting and with blood dripping from his eye. Danzo is dead; part of his plan is complete, and he feels utterly triumphant, though exhausted. Tobi stands next to him, ready to transport him back to their hideout so he can rest.

"Just another minute," he tells him. Then he smiles, insanity clear in it.

Suigetsu and Jugo are nowhere to be found; Karin lies nearby, pierced through the chest by his Chidori. He doesn't need them anymore, not in this state. He's euphoric, flying high, and he _knows _that he can do the rest on his own.

He tells Tobi as much, and his relative's emotionless answer is to kill the girl, and that he'd be back later to collect both him and the corpse; he has a matter to attend to. Then he disappears in a swirling vortex, and Sasuke starts to walk towards Karin, pulling out a kunai.

Then a flash of pink appears, and he's faced with his former teammate. He grins; this is perfect. He's been meaning to sever those bonds; it would be fun to watch them die, instead of just imagining their bodies smoldering in Konoha's ruins under his Anaterasu.

This would be so, so much fun.

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He turns to face Itachi; he'd never thought he'd see his brother again. But here he is, reanimated by Kabuto's Edo Tensei along with many others. They've just fought side by side for the first time in many years, finally defeating Kabuto. The Edo Tensei is about to be released, with Itachi forcing Kabuto to do the seals.

He almost wishes they didn't have to do this. He wants his brother to stay, so they can talk and laugh and ultimately be brothers again.

He knows he can't, though, so he settles for holding on to his brother's last words before he returns to the realm of the dead.

He's hugging air within minutes, crying at his brother's words. Itachi, his ever-beloved older brother, is gone for good now. His last wish was for Sasuke to forget about revenge for him, forget about breaking his bonds with Naruto and go back to Konoha.

He doesn't know if he can do that.

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He stands trapped, the first four Hokages on one side and Suigetsu, Jugo, and Orochimaru on the other. Hashirama has just finished explaining everything about the founding of Konoha, and now it is time for Sasuke to make an important choice.

Destroy Konoha, or save it.

He thinks of everything that has happened in the last ten years: what he's lost and what he's gained, the few he's killed, the decisions and promises and bonds he's made along the way. He thinks of Itachi's last wish, that he keep his bonds and rejoin Konoha, not destroy it. In the end, it is all of these that lead to his final decision.

He will keep his bonds, his friends. He will fight for Konoha; and they will win.


End file.
